ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers
Pharmaceutical Industry
The Department has recently issued the guidelines of the scheme “Strengthening of Pharmaceutical Industry  in 11th March 2022 with the following objectives:
- To strengthen the existing infrastructure facilities in order to make India a global leader in the Pharma Sector by providing Financial assistance to pharma clusters for creation of Common Facilities.
- To upgrade the production facilities of SMEs and MSMEs, to meet national and international regulatory standards, by providing interest subvention or capital subsidy on their capital loans.
- To promote knowledge and awareness about the Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices Industry by taking up studies, building databases and brining industry leaders, academia and policy makers together to share their knowledge and experience.
The total financial outlay of the scheme is Rs.500 crore for a period of five years from 2021-22 to 2025-26.
Department of Pharmaceuticals strives to improve the infrastructural facilities of the pharma sector in the country towards making India, a global leader in the sector.
- In order to make the country Atmanirbhar in pharmaceuticals, the Department of Pharmaceuticals has launched the Production Linked Incentives  Scheme for promotion of domestic manufacturing of critical Key Starting Materials /Drug Intermediates , and Active Pharmaceuticals Ingredients  in India. The Total financial outlay of the scheme is Rs. 6,940 crore and the tenure from FY 2020-2021 to FY-2029-30.
- Another ‘Production Link Incentive  scheme for Pharmaceuticals has been launched with total financial outlay of Rs. 15,000 crore and tenure from FY 2020-2021 to FY 2028-29. The scheme intends to enhance India’s manufacturing capabilities by increasing investment and production in the sector and contributing to product diversification to high value goods in pharmaceuticals sector. The eligible drugs under this scheme include APIs among other categories of pharmaceuticals products.
- The Department has launched a scheme to provide further support to API pharma companies through providing, financial assistance to the States for establishing three Bulk Drug Parks.
- Further, Department provides support to the pharma clusters for creating common infrastructure facilities under Assistance to Pharmaceuticals Industry for Common Facilities .
- Pharmaceutical Technology Upgradation Assistance Scheme  has also been approved to support SME units in pharmaceutical sector for quality & technology upgradation.
Details of all the above schemes can be accessed at https://pharmaceuticals.gov.in/schemes .
The information was given by the Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers, Shri Bhagwanth Khuba in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.
Vice President's Secretariat
Vice President greets nation on the eve of 74th Republic Day
The Vice President, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar greeted the nation on the eve of Republic Day. Following is the text of the message:
“I convey my warm greetings and best wishes to all our citizens on the joyous occasion of 74th Republic Day.
Republic Day provides an opportunity to reaffirm our faith in the age-old civilizational values enshrined in our Constitution. It is also a solemn occasion to recall the contributions of all the eminent freedom fighters, great thinkers and unsung heroes whose sacrifice has laid the foundations to our Republic as we know it today.
On this occasion, let us celebrate our achievements and rededicate ourselves towards the endeavour of nation-building with renewed vigour.”
Following is the Hindi version of the message:
“मैं 74वें गणतंत्र दिवस के शुभ अवसर पर सभी देशवासियों को हार्दिक बधाई और शुभकामनाएं देता हूं।
गणतंत्र दिवस हमारे संविधान में निहित सदियों पुराने सभ्यतागत मूल्यों में हमारे विश्वास की पुष्टि करने का अवसर प्रदान करता है। जैसा कि हम जानते हैं कि यह सभी प्रतिष्ठित स्वतंत्रता सेनानियों, महान विचारकों और गुमनाम नायकों के योगदान को याद करने का एक पवित्र अवसर भी है, जिनके बलिदान ने हमारे गणतंत्र की नींव रखी है।
इस अवसर पर, हम अपनी उपलब्धियों को याद करते हुए और नए जोश के साथ राष्ट्र निर्माण के प्रयास के प्रति खुद को फिर से समर्पित करें।”
Ministry of Corporate Affairs
Income Tax Department continues to strike in J&K Region
The Income Tax Department conducted search and seizure operations on 27.06.2019 on a prominent business group based in Srinagar, covering 4 premises in the Kashmir Valley and 6 places in the Jammu region. Apart from the premises in J&K, 10 other business premises situated in Ludhiana, NCR and Jammu belonging to parties that have actively assisted the main tax evader in concealing his income and indulging in illegal activities have also been covered under survey action. The group is engaged in the business of real estate and information technology. There were allegations of large scale diversion and misappropriation of loan taken from J&K Bank by the group.
During the search, it was detected that the tax evader has been given illegal benefit of Rs 60 crore by J&K Bank. His outstanding loan of Rs 190 crore was settled at Rs 130 crore, although he did not deserve any concessional treatment. Additionally, even the reduced bank liability has either been defaulted by him or the repayment has been facilitated by active connivance of bank officials, who have ever greened his loan account by lending to third parties, who, in turn, gave their loaned funds to the tax evader through dubious financial transactions with him.
During the search operation, evidence was found that the main promoter was a director in a Dubai based company. He is also holding and operating a foreign bank account. Neither his interest in the Dubai Company nor the foreign bank account has ever been disclosed by him in his tax returns. He is likely to face action under the Black Money  and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015 as well as other relevant laws of the land for deliberate omission to declare foreign investment as mandated by law.
Field enquires have also revealed that the tax evader has sold/booked part of his real estate project of Paradise Avenue near Jammu against unaccounted cash. The cash component has neither been disclosed in tax returns by purchasers of the flats of Paradise Avenue nor has he disclosed these receipts in his books of accounts.
Other than the Paradise Avenue project, the tax evader has also undertaken real estate transactions in his personal capacity or in the name of family members wherein allegedly more than Rs 7 crore of unaccounted cash has changed hands.
During the demonetisation period, the group had made cash deposits of Rs. 1.44 crore. The main promoter could not explain the source of these cash deposits during the course of search action.
Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs
Central Government Issued an Advisory to All States / UTs and Their Real Estate Regulatory Authorities to Treat Covid-19 Pandemic AS Force Majeure and Automatically Extend the Registration/Completion date of all Projects Registered Under Rera for a Period of 6 Months
Special Refinancing Facility of ₹ 10,000 Crore at Reserve Bank of India’s Policy Repo Rate to National Housing Bank for Supporting Housing Finance Companies 
₹ 45,000 Crore Partial Credit Guarantee Scheme for Non-Banking Financial Companies 
₹30,000 Crore Special Liquidity Scheme for Microfinance Institutions
Extension of Credit Link Subsidy Scheme Under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana- Urban till 31st March 2021
In view of the situation created by the global pandemic COVID-19 , reverse migration of labourers and breakdown of construction materials supply chains, the construction activities of real estate projects were affected adversely across the country.
To protect the interest of all stakeholders including homebuyers, Central Government issued an advisory to all States / UTs and their Real Estate Regulatory Authorities to treat COVID-19 pandemic as force majeure and automatically extend the registration/completion date of all projects registered under RERA for a period of 6 months where completion date expires on or after 25th March, 2020 and to allow further extension of 3 months, if the situation so demands, for the reasons to be recorded in writing and also extend concurrently the timelines of other statutory compliances under RERA.
Further, as part of ‘AtmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’, various other incentives/reliefs have been provided for the Real Estate Sector such as; special refinancing facility of ₹ 10,000 crore at Reserve Bank of India’s Policy Repo Rate to National Housing Bank for supporting Housing Finance Companies ; ₹ 45,000 crore Partial Credit Guarantee Scheme for Non-Banking Financial Companies  and ₹30,000 crore Special Liquidity Scheme for Microfinance Institutions, NBFC & HFCs; extension of Credit Link Subsidy Scheme under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana- Urban till 31st March 2021; Scheme for Affordable Rental Housing Complexes for migrant labours and urban poor.
All these measures aim to address the issue of liquidity disruptions to augment the flow of funds to the real estate sector.
This was informed by Minister of State  for Housing and Urban Affairs Shri Hardeep Singh Puri in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
National Population Policy
National Population Policy formulated in the year 2000, reaffirms the Government’s commitment towards voluntary and informed choice, target free approach and achievement of replacement level of fertility by simultaneously addressing the issues of contraception, maternal health and child survival.
The National Family Planning Programme of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare is guided by the tenets of the National Population Policy 2000 and oversees its implementation. Under this program the service delivery data is triangulated and further the program is regularly reviewed through annual review meetings, supportive supervision visits, common review missions etc.
As a result of the Government’s efforts, the successes achieved are enumerated below:
- The Total Fertility Rate  has declined from 2.9 in 2005 to 2.2 in 2017 .
- 25 out of 37 States/UTs have already achieved replacement level fertility of 2.1 or less.
- The Decadal growth rate has declined from 21.54% in 1999-2000 to 17.64 % during 2001-11.
- The Crude Birth Rate  has declined from 23.8 to 20.2 from 2005 to 2017 .
- The Teenage birth rate has halved from 16 %  to 8 % .
The Minister of State , Sh Ashwini Kumar Choubey stated this in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha here today.
Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution
Status of Cane Price Arrears
Despite higher production and lower sugar prices in the current season as compared to previous sugar season, the cane price arrears are relatively lower than the previous season as a consequence of various measures taken by the Government of India and efforts of the State Governments. As on date, cane price arrears in current season on SAP basis is at Rs 7826 Crore in comparison to Rs.8982 Crore during the corresponding period of last sugar season. Even the cane price arrears for sugar season 2016-17 have been reduced to only Rs.52 Crores  and Rs.1076 Crores  against cane dues payable of Rs. 57,608 Crore. Thus, about 99.9% of cane dues  in respect of sugar season 2016-17 have been cleared. Even in respect of 2015-16 sugar season, only Rs. 122 Crores  and Rs. 710 Crore  are pending and payments for earlier year arrears are in process.
2. The crushing of sugar cane during the current season is in full swing and the mills will be able to liquidate their cane dues by the sale of sugar and their by-products in coming days.
Ministry of Railways
Shri Anil Kumar Lahoti takes charge as Chairman & CEO, Railway Board
Shri Anil Kumar Lahoti has taken over the charge of new Chairman & Chief Executive Officer , Railway Board . The appointments committee of the Cabinet approved the appointment of Shri Anil Kumar Lahoti as Chairman & CEO of Railway Board. Prior to this, Shri Anil Kumar Lahoti has worked as Member , Railway Board.
Sh. Lahoti belongs to Indian Railway Service of Engineers, 1984 batch and has been empanelled in the first panel of Indian Railways Management Service for Level-17. He has graduated in Civil Engineering with Gold Medal from Madhav Institute of Technology and Science, Gwalior and did his Master of Engineering  from University of Roorkee . During his more than 36 years of career in railways, he has worked in various capacities over Central, Northern, North Central, Western and West Central Railways and in Railway Board.
Shri Lahoti has earlier worked as General Manager, Central Railway and also looked after the charge of GM, Western Railway for several months. His stint as General Manager is credited with achieving highest ever freight and parcel traffic in terms of tonnage carried and revenue earned including running of the highest number of Kissan Rails. He also brought about record improvement in revenue by non-fare opportunities, sale of scrap and extensive ticket checking drives. He successfully steered and resolved the vexed issue of expansion of air conditioned sub-urban services in Mumbai. During his tenure, Central Railway recorded a quantum jump in execution and commissioning of infrastructure projects and commissioned the long awaited 5th & 6th line between Diva and Thane in Mumbai.
He had worked as Divisional Railway Manager, Lucknow, Northern Railway, where he took several initiatives to improve freight movement on the Lucknow-Varanasi-DDU route as an alternative to the congested Ghaziabad-Prayagraj-DDU route. His stint saw a substantial improvement in passenger amenities and cleanliness standards at stations on Lucknow division.
As Chief Administrative Officer  and Chief Engineer  on Northern Railway, he executed a large number of infrastructure projects of New Lines, Doubling and multi-tracking of track, yard remodelling, important bridges, station construction, etc. The Anand Vihar Terminal in Delhi and the iconic Ajmeri Gate side station building of New Delhi station were planned and constructed by him. He was also closely associated with planning for redevelopment of New Delhi station as a World Class station including commercial development of land and air space.
Shri Lahoti has taken training in Strategic Management and Leadership programs at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA; Bocconi School of Management, Milan, Italy; and Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. He has carried out studies of development of stations in Hong Kong, Japan, UK, Germany and Switzerland including commercial development on railway land. He has also visited several countries in connection with developments in track technology and track maintenance machines.
Ministry of Mines
Efforts to Ensure Self –Sufficiency in Minerals
Ministry of Mines has announced the National Mineral Policy 2019  in March, 2019 which replaced the National Mineral Policy 2008. Subsequently, the Mines and Minerals  Act  1957 was amended in the years 2020 and 2021.
The objectives of Mineral Laws  Act, 2020 is to allow State Governments to take advance action for auction of mineral blocks before the expiry of lease period and to allow transfer of statutory clearances, permissions etc. to a new lessee facilitate seamless continuity of mining operations. Further, the MMDR Amendment Act, 2021 inter alia provides for increasing mineral production and time bound operationalisation of mines, increasing employment and investment in the mining sector, maintaining continuity in mining operations after change of lessee, increasing the pace of exploration and auction of mineral resources and resolving long pending issues that have slowed the growth of the sector. These reforms will ensure self-sufficiency in mineral requirement of the country.
This information was given by the Minister of Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs Shri Pralhad Joshi in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
Ministry of Culture
Assam government dignitaries led by Governor Shri Gulab Chand Kataria and Chief Minister Shri Himanta Biswa Sarma visit Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya on 19th March
A delegation of the high level functionaries of the government of Assam led by Governor Shri Gulab Chand Kataria and Chief Minister Shri Himanta Biswa Sarma visited the Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya on 19 March 2023. Apart from the Governor and Chief Minister, the delegation consisted of all the ministers and secretaries of the government of Assam. They were welcomed by Shri Nripendra Misra, Chairman, Executive Council, NMML.
The delegates were given an extensive guided tour of the Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya. They saw the distinctive displays at the Sangrahalaya including the experimental zone, Anubhuti. They complimented the unique journey of Indian democracy led by the chief executives. Governor of Assam, Shri Gulab Chand Kataria wrote in the visitor book, “The Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya represents the heritage of the country. It is a symbol of our freedom struggle and of our cultural glory. It will always inspire me and all countrymen to serve the nation.”
Dr.Himanta Biswa Sarma, Chief Minister of Assam wrote, “Feeling blessed and inspired after visiting the Prime Ministers’ Museum. To see all our Prime Ministers come alive is to see our democracy in action. An outstanding blend of history and technology and a great and visionary initiative by our Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modiji. Jai Hind.”
The Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya is a tribute to every Prime Minister of India since Independence, and a narrative record of how each one has contributed to the development of our nation over the last 75 years. It is a history of collective effort, and powerful evidence of the creative success of India’s democracy. Our Prime Ministers came from every class and tier of society, for the gates of democracy were equally open to all. The Sangrahalaya tells us the story of how our Prime Ministers navigated the nation through various challenges and ensured the all-round progress of the country. It gets a large number of visitors from India and abroad. It has also been visited by a large numbers of Indian and foreign dignitaries since its opening.
Ministry of Finance
₹1,45,867 crore gross GST revenue collected for November 2022, records increase of 11% Year-on-Year
Monthly GST revenues more than ₹1.4 lakh crore for nine straight months in a row
Revenues from import of goods 20% higher and revenues from domestic transaction  8% higher than the same month last year
The gross GST revenue collected in the month of November 2022 is ₹1,45,867 crore of which CGST is ₹25,681 crore, SGST is ₹32,651 crore, IGST is ₹77,103 crore  and Cess is ₹10,433 crore 
The government has settled ₹33,997 crore to CGST and ₹28,538 crore to SGST from IGST as regular settlement. The total revenue of Centre and the States after regular settlements in the month of November 2022 is ₹59678 crore for CGST and ₹61189 crore for the SGST. In addition, Centre had also released ₹17,000 crore as GST compensation to States/UTs in November 2022.
The revenues for the month of November 2022 are 11% higher than the GST revenues in the same month last year, which itself was Rs. 1.31,526 crore. During the month, revenues from import of goods was 20% higher and the revenues from domestic transaction  are 8% higher than the revenues from these sources during the same month last year.
The chart below shows trends in monthly gross GST revenues during the current year. The table shows the state-wise figures of GST collected in each State during the month of November 2022 as compared to November 2021.
State-wise growth of GST Revenues during November 2022[1]
|
|
State
|
|
Nov-21
|
|
Nov-22
|
|
Growth
|
|
Jammu and Kashmir
|
|
383
|
|
430
|
|
12%
|
|
Himachal Pradesh
|
|
762
|
|
672
|
|
-12%
|
|
Punjab
|
|
1,845
|
|
1,669
|
|
-10%
|
|
Chandigarh
|
|
180
|
|
175
|
|
-3%
|
|
Uttarakhand
|
|
1,263
|
|
1,280
|
|
1%
|
|
Haryana
|
|
6,016
|
|
6,769
|
|
13%
|
|
Delhi
|
|
4,387
|
|
4,566
|
|
4%
|
|
Rajasthan
|
|
3,698
|
|
3,618
|
|
-2%
|
|
Uttar Pradesh
|
|
6,636
|
|
7,254
|
|
9%
|
|
Bihar
|
|
1,030
|
|
1,317
|
|
28%
|
|
Sikkim
|
|
207
|
|
209
|
|
1%
|
|
Arunachal Pradesh
|
|
40
|
|
62
|
|
55%
|
|
Nagaland
|
|
30
|
|
34
|
|
11%
|
|
Manipur
|
|
35
|
|
50
|
|
42%
|
|
Mizoram
|
|
23
|
|
24
|
|
3%
|
|
Tripura
|
|
58
|
|
60
|
|
3%
|
|
Meghalaya
|
|
152
|
|
162
|
|
6%
|
|
Assam
|
|
992
|
|
1,080
|
|
9%
|
|
West Bengal
|
|
4,083
|
|
4,371
|
|
7%
|
|
Jharkhand
|
|
2,337
|
|
2,551
|
|
9%
|
|
Odisha
|
|
4,136
|
|
4,162
|
|
1%
|
|
Chhattisgarh
|
|
2,454
|
|
2,448
|
|
0%
|
|
Madhya Pradesh
|
|
2,808
|
|
2,890
|
|
3%
|
|
Gujarat
|
|
9,569
|
|
9,333
|
|
-2%
|
|
Daman and Diu
|
|
0
|
|
0
|
|
67%
|
|
Dadra and Nagar Haveli
|
|
270
|
|
304
|
|
13%
|
|
Maharashtra
|
|
18,656
|
|
21,611
|
|
16%
|
|
Karnataka
|
|
9,048
|
|
10,238
|
|
13%
|
|
Goa
|
|
518
|
|
447
|
|
-14%
|
|
Lakshadweep
|
|
2
|
|
0
|
|
-79%
|
|
Kerala
|
|
2,129
|
|
2,094
|
|
-2%
|
|
Tamil Nadu
|
|
7,795
|
|
8,551
|
|
10%
|
|
Puducherry
|
|
172
|
|
209
|
|
22%
|
|
Andaman and Nicobar Islands
|
|
24
|
|
23
|
|
-7%
|
|
Telangana
|
|
3,931
|
|
4,228
|
|
8%
|
|
Andhra Pradesh
|
|
2,750
|
|
3,134
|
|
14%
|
|
Ladakh
|
|
13
|
|
50
|
|
273%
|
|
Other Territory
|
|
95
|
|
184
|
|
93%
|
|
Center Jurisdiction
|
|
180
|
|
154
|
|
-14%
|
|
Grand Total
|
|
98,708
|
|
1,06,416
|
|
8%
Ministry of Finance
Cabinet approves strategic disinvestment of 100% Govt. of India’s equity in the Dredging Corporation of India Ltd. 
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has given ‘in principle’ approval for strategic disinvestment of 100% Government of India's shares in DCIL to consortium of four ports namely, Vishakhapatnam Port Trust, Paradeep Port Trust, Jawahar Lal Nehru Port Trust and Kandla Port Trust.
Presently the Government of India holds 73.44% shares in Dredging Corporation of India Limited. The approval will further facilitate the linkage of dredging activities with the ports, keeping in view the role of the DCIL in expansion of dredging activity in the country as well as potential scope for diversification of ports into third party dredging. The co-sharing of facilities between the company as well as ports shall lead to savings for ports. This would further provide opportunities for larger investment in DCIL as integration with ports shall help ineffective vertical linkage in the value chain.
The strategic disinvestment of DCIL shall be undertaken after conducting due diligence exercise by both the entities with the help of Advisors, appointed for the transaction.